LETTERS

Teaching liberalism

While sitting in my first period economics class several days ago, my teacher decided to talk about the recent government shutdown regarding Obama’s health care law. He exclaimed, “The Republican Party won’t agree on anything! This health care law is a great thing, which will provide health care for millions.” He continued on by saying that all the government workers who aren’t currently working will not get paid due to the shutdown.

He failed to mention the fact that these government workers will eventually be reimbursed for the pay that they lost. He also didn’t mention all the jobs that Obamacare has already taken away to keep up with the cost of this Affordable Care Act.

I sat and watched my fellow classmates jaws drop. A chorus of “Really?” “Oh, my,” and “That’s terrible” echoed throughout the room. It was then that I realized that these kids have no chance; they are brainwashed into liberalism from the start.

Shouldn’t teachers be neutral? How can students form opinions when their pedagogue is telling them what’s right and wrong? All of my peers in that class fell for what he was saying; they have no idea all the terrible results Obamacare will actually do for this country.

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Parents: Your kids are only hearing one side of the story. Ask them their opinion on this situation, instead of what my teacher is doing.

High school: The mass production of young Democrats.

Jacob Gran

Winterport

Tea party proud

I am a tea party member. I am your neighbor, a regular American, retired teacher and have no criminal record. I am one of millions of Americans who see our government as taking a dangerous turn toward a tyrannical, despotic trend and therefore am reacting against this turn toward a dictatorship and socialistic type of government.

It began when the Obama administration followed strictly partisan lines and with no negotiation and no compromise forced upon our nation the Affordable Care Act. It did this knowing that the vast majority of Americans were and are against this 4,000 pages of complicated mandates that no one even today understands or knows what is in it. It was sold as a law, not a tax. It was sold as a law that would not cause us to change our doctor or our insurance. It was sold on unadulterated lies. Not one single Republican voted for it, yet the Democrats forced it upon us.

The tea party is not a party. It is normal Americans reacting against this trend. We marched on Washington Sept. 12 with 1.5 million of us in protest of this law. There was no violence, no attempt to overturn the government, and we did it under the law. Yet the Democrats, the media and even congressional leaders call us anarchist, terrorist, murderers, arsonist, hostage takers, extortionists and a bunch of other unseemly names.

Somehow the media, liberals, progressives and Democrats have managed to paint a misrepresentative picture of who the tea party is. Name callers is what they are. We are here to stay. We are your neighbors who just happen to support the U.S. Constitution.

Howard Cutler

Dixmont

Taxing situation

Why is it that the state of Maine collects lodging tax on campers? We bring our own

lodging. It’s not a motel or cottage that someone else owns. We own it. We already paid

sales tax to own, then there’s excise tax to get it to the campground. Once it’s there the

state is requiring us to pay an additional 8 percent to use it.

I was camping next to a couple from another state, and I quote him: “I’ve never paid so

much to get so little in this state.”

Maine relies heavily on its tourist industry, and a good portion of those tourists are

camping families or seasonal campers. So, let’s drive them away by charging them more

tax on something they already own.

I’m sure someone is going to say, well it’s not the camper that you are being taxed on, it’s

the property you are leasing. If this is the case, is the state taxing mobile home owners for

the space they lease from the mobile-home owner’s property? I think not. There’s got to be some sort of reprieve for us, especially being Maine residents, using Maine campgrounds. Oh wait, that’s the way life should be in Maine — tax the crap out of us.

Douglas Mills

West Bath

Keep talking

Republicans have embraced a new strategy: Pachyderm-icide (no offense to elephants). The GOP will continue to lose the presidency and congressional seats because they kowtow to a clueless minority. Tea partiers live in an alternative universe where taxes and public services are unnecessary. Their quixotic insistence on trying to defund the Affordable Care Act resulted in a government shutdown and economic pain for millions. Ironically, the shutdown illustrates just how dependent red states are on federal funding. All the while, the GOP cynically passes piecemeal legislation knowing it will go nowhere. The public doesn’t buy any of it.

Since they haven’t convinced anyone the ACA is bad for America, members of the tea party resort to extortion. President Barack Obama will not negotiate with terrorists, nor should he. Keep talking, Sen. Ted Cruz. Every time you open your mouth, your party becomes more and more irrelevant. Stupid is as stupid does.

Mac Herrling

Orland

Summer music

One of the many treasures we have in the greater Bangor area is the Bangor Band. Every Tuesday evening during the summer months, we look forward to the concerts. Equally as nice are the special events they perform throughout the year. Inclement weather this summer brought them to Peakes Auditorium at Bangor High School a few times, where we enjoyed even more fully the sounds of these musicians.

Their hours of practice are very evident in the quality of each performance. Thanks to all of them for providing this service for us. We look forward to seeing them again on the waterfront next summer.